Active noise reduction has been developed for use in ear muffs and headphones. Active noise reduction involves sensing background noise and playing a copy of the background noise substantially simultaneously to the original background noise. The copy of the noise is rotated to be 180° out of phase with respect to the original background noise so that, when combined, the two signals destructively interfere. Ideally, the two signals cancel each other out. Incorporation of active noise reduction in headsets requires the addition of a power supply, which must be built in, or electrically coupled to, the headset. To maintain the portable nature of headsets, some prior art arrangements have included a battery compartment in an earcup of the headset.
United States patent application Publication No. 2005/0213774 discloses one such arrangement for a noise reducing headset. The headset has a pair of earcups, each earcup being attached to a corresponding yoke assembly. One of the earcups is provided with a battery door that may be opened to allow insertion and removal of a battery from a recess in the earcup. To prevent a battery from inadvertently falling from the recess in the earcup, the battery door is positioned so as to be covered by the yoke assembly when the headset is worn by a user, thereby blocking the battery door from opening. Whilst headsets configured according to the aforementioned publication may perform the generally desired function of active noise reduction, they are not without shortfalls. For example, the yoke may obstruct access to the battery door and/or obstruct access to the battery compartment after the battery door has been opened, thereby making it awkward for a user to replace a battery. Additionally, users must remove such headsets and place them in a particular configuration to be able to access the battery, which may be difficult in particular environments where it is not possible to place the headset down, for example, on a table. Also, where the battery door is not properly closed by a user, movement of the earcup in the yoke may be restricted and may ultimately lead to damaging of the door and/or the yoke.